spoke w/ my dad yesterday, he said all of the quail are gone and that conservation doesn't seem to care, any truth to that?
[Reply]

Numbers are low in MO that's for sure. If quail are to make a comeback it won't be the conservation department who brings them back it will be the hunters. Hunters are going to have to make it lucrative for the farmers, ranchers and land owners to maintain some habitat on ther property so the quail have a place to live and breed. There are some government programs for quail habitat available these days I think and that too will play a big part. It all starts with the habitat.


PhilFree:-)
[Reply]

Where is your dad?
Here in southeast Kansas they’ve certainly thinned out.
I used to love quail hunting, and we were thick with them in the ‘80’s. Since then they’ve almost disappeared.
When I asked a Parks and Rec officer why he told me it’s because of the reintroduction of turkeys to Kansas. Not that they’re killing the quail outright but he said they have pictures of turkeys chasing quail off their nest and eating the eggs. And I can see them not caring because turkey and deer bring a lot more out of town money to the area than quail ever did.
[Reply]

Well those shitheads deserve to be shot in the ass. I certainly hope you don't equate that behavior with all coyote hunters.
[Reply]

Its nights like these that I both Love and Hate bow hunting.

I sat this afternoon, and in rain this evening without seeing a deer until half an hour until dark. In a second, out of the river came a doe with a shooter buck....I had a 10 second window to determin if he was a shooter, find a window and release an arrow.

I put an arrow into the biggest buck I've ever shot tonight......but that arrow must have hit the shoulder, only went in 5-6" and broke off 50 yards later as it ran into a corn field.

I guess we'll see in the morning, but I'm not very confident.


$%^)*^@#*(^!)*_)!#!!!
[Reply]

Dang that sucks. Good luck in the morning. Last time that happened to me there wasn't much left of the deer the next morning...coyotes got to it.
[Reply]

I voted death punch to the heart, but was 3" too far forward and high....the likely distance between victory and defeat.
[Reply]

Preadtors are up, thus quail are down. Most of the farmers in my area do a pretty good job but we just have too many varmits right now. Of course these things go in cycles.
[Reply]

high turkey numbers, hawks, coyotes and bobcats....

Here, even the turkey numbers are dropping because of the growing bobcat populations.

Pheasant numbers have been down, really since 93. Wet conditions in spring and other factors are also affecting hatches. Once they hatch, there is alot of competition.

I haven't jumped a quail very often in the past few years, and on some of the farms I bow hunt that used to have pheasants....nada.
[Reply]

That's definately part of the issue. Varmits! Thin'em out!

PhilFree:-)
[Reply]

Is there much CRP in Iowa these days? I hunted Iowa in the early '90s and it was decent but my buddy told me that the CRP was gone. I'm not sure I believed him. I hunted around Carson, IA.

PhilFree:-)
[Reply]

To me it seems like SOME of that may be attributed to the fact that there are not near as many trappers, coyote hunters and the type anymore. Partly because pelts were hardly bringing anything....I heard that prices have gone back up a bit so maybe it will turn around a bit. Coyotes are so thick in one area that I hunt that they aren't as scared of humans as they should be....I plink them bastards every chance I get.
[Reply]

There's plenty of ground cover, too many chiggers and turkey and that's the problem without a doubt, as far as quail are concerned.
[Reply]

Interesting, My father is in Blue Springs, Mo.

Not sure WHERE he goes hunting at, though.
[Reply]

thanks everyone for your answers, I'm not a hunter, but it's cool to know things like that. I find it interesting, for sure.
[Reply]